to be fair, we’ve eaten fairly well today. my wife packed joe and i excellent homemade breakfast sandwiches and a thermos of strong coffee this morning. that carried us through the 1 o’clock show pretty easily this morning, but we were ready to eat by the time the five of us (with tim tobitsch, band friend and megan business partner, as a stand-in for trevor, who had to return to work: they have similar hair) drove off to get some lunch at tessaro’s in lawrenceville.

other highlights include fantastic guitar tone from both myself (new speakers, KT77s) and joe (new speaker, mojo), seeing part of meeting of important people’s set, and some good laughs at tim’s idea for a “tutoring & repo” business (your scores improve or you lose your house!).

on the whole, though, this is the part of the plot where The Real Meaning of the story’s events are really called into question. the moral is unclear. after all, joe and i can have excellent guitar tone, eat well, and fine each other $129 at home and without 13+ hours of driving.

dear reader, even for those of us who believe in more than coping, some days feel like a page of hemingway.

whence, dear reader, the hero will shortly enter the scene with flourish, very possibly from a conveniently placed rope.

or something like that. in our case, the real version would now include a very polite state trooper. although we are still on track to wow the passersby at WPTS Day, the speed of our progress and the height of our spirits are both somewhat reduced. this has now become quite an expensive trip.

ah, troopers. how faithfully you discharge a duty of such immorality. if only you could be persuaded of that which we, the frequent travellers of pennsylvania interstates, know in our deepest parts: your law is no law at all. it is bare graft, collected with undisguised coercion, only designated a “tax” by the ultimate destination of the lucre squeezed from the common man.

if only i wrote protest songs.

dear reader,

that’s right; it’s me. i’ve missed you all. i decided some weeks ago to return to blogging here with a vengeance, but now it’s happening and i couldn’t be happier.

actually, i could be somewhat happier. the occasion of my first post in over two months is not, truly, something about which i’m particularly excited. owing to some not entirely unforeseen but certainly uncontrollable externals, joe and i will be departing shortly from nj to play a c. lunchtime show in pgh, and returning shortly thereafter to nj. (go ahead, check the time. i’ll be back here by 9 tonight.)

so… though i am sadly without brilliance or insight at this hour, you can look forward to blogs and tweets throughout the day that will no doubt keep you informed of our progress in an entertaining way.

ps. did you like “in the impossible tension?”

dear reader,

before i delve into the real content of this post, a big shout out to the bloodsugars, an INCREDIBLE (note the use of caps) nyc band that we simply can’t get enough of, and to everyone who turned up at all asia last weekend and supported us in a way i have never before experienced.

a few posts ago i did promise some talk on recording and amp building (problems). as is often the case, i’ve had my hands full enough with the actual recording and amp building that blogging about them has been at best a line item on my list of things i wish i could get a minute for (but know i won’t). in the meantime, something has happened that cannot go uncovered in this humble blog.

as of friday, november 21, good night, states had never before played in boston, and we were not overly optimistic about a midnight set in an unknown venue in a (ridiculously cold) city far north of our usual show circuit. to make matters slightly worse, when we walked into the club, all asia, we were treated to a band of what i can only assume were highschool kids or perhaps college freshman playing a mix of original material and jack johnson covers, which was difficult to survive. following that were multiple trips to a parking garage around the block, some travails finding food (we ate at this place–good!), and a “real feel” of 0 degrees.

the night started looking up as the bloodsugars knocked their set out of the park (would that be fenway?), and even got some of the good-natured crowd moving a little. they seemed to really connect with the audience. one cannot help but enjoy the bloodsugars, although i admit that i started to feel our often-intense textures were going to be quite a letdown after their unstoppable infectiousness.

little did i know. how could i be prepared for the sweater vest?

after a strong, noisy medley of “long coats, no energy” and “there is a treasure,” we launched into “only thing.” near the very end of the song three guys excitedly ran to the front of the stage, which had been empty, and began dancing. REALLY dancing. it looked like they might have been doing serious moves. before they could really get into it, the song ended, and i was fairly sure that the dancing was going to end with it; but as we laid into “i am the loser”’s decidedly mid-tempo groove, the rest of the crowd began joining them. by the middle of the song the scene in all asia could only be described as an outtake from the “thriller” video. i am not making this up. the point man of the three original dancers–a guy in a swingin’ sweater vest–was actually leading the entire audience in some kind of improvised step dancing that they were somehow following quite impressively. despite my warnings that most of the rest of our set would not be so dance-friendly, sweater vest & co. cheered at everything i said and persisted in their synchronized ambulations through every song we played.

i really thought it must be some kind of a flash mob. there was simply no other explanation.

as the set progressed to “far side of the boulevard,” the five of us looked quizzically at each other. ‘we should skip this one,’ seemed to be the general sentiment on stage, but i figured, what the heck? i’ll ask the dancers.

“we were going to play a quiet one here… ” i began.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted The Sweater Vest Dance Company. “TAKE US ON YOUR JOURNEY!” added one effusive participant.

needless to say, good night, states is coming back to boston. we are going to be working on our moonwalk, and our cover of “i wanna dance with somebody.” we are coming with warmer clothes, with definitely either red coats or socks, one if by land and two if by sea, and we are probably going to play “i am the loser” twice. mostly, sweater vest & co., we are going to go on YOUR journey.

dear reader,

hopefully you have heard or will soon hear our new single, “the odd and the even.” we’re pretty happy with it. i’ve been mixing it on and off for a couple weeks, and as always the last few days have been a non-stop push.

but far from resting in the traditional sense, good night states is going to spend this weekend songwriting. dan, trevor and megan are going to work half days today and drive out to nj, where we’ll spend halloween playing music together.

i hope the weekend will be refreshing, if not physically relaxing, and we may even take some time out saturday night to support my father in a concert of no small notoriety (at least locally). i’m pretty excited about this, for many reasons: my parents are so, so supportive of us, and of course my dad has played a large role in my life-long love for and involvement in music; the album that maranatha made in 1971, soon, is something i just couldn’t be more fascinated by, though i think i’ve only listened to it four or five times. it’s just so… real. check it out:

anyway. i’ve got, as usual, a lot to say, about life, music, the truth, and of course politics, but i’ve also got a lot to do today and blogging is only one item on my list regardless of how many or how few topics i tackle in this post.

for now, be not so fearful of this tumultuous time; the panic of 2008 will surely pass (as did the panics of 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907, and 1929–am i forgetting any?), but our ability and obligation as people to choose the right and good never will.

enjoy some candy corn, some “the odd and the even,” and, if you find yourselves in north jersey tomorrow, perhaps some maranatha.